The Final Sunday Sneak Peak

Thank you all for coming to my farewell today.  I totally felt loved.  I'm going on my mission in 3 days and yes, I'm excited and nervous.  Anyways, I just wanna say how much I love Christ, and how much we owe him.  And that is a lot.  He deserves so much more than we give him.  Anyways here's the story I shared in my talk today.  I hope you can find time to read it.

Seminary Donuts

Brother Christianson taught Seminary. He had an open-door policy and would take in any student that had been thrown out of another class as long as they would abide by his rules. Steve had been kicked out of his sixth period and no other teacher wanted him, so he went into Brother Christianson's Seminary class.

Steve was told that he could not be late, so he arrived just seconds before the bell rang and he would sit in the very back of the room. He would also be the first to leave after the class was over.

One day, Brother Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. After class, Bro. Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, "You think you're pretty tough, don't you?"

Steve's answer was, "Yeah, I do."

Then Brother Christianson asked, "How many push-ups can you do?"

Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."

"200? That's pretty good, Steve," Brother Christianson said. "Do you think you could do 300?"

Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."

"Do you think you could?" Again asked Brother Christianson.

"Well, I can try," said Steve.

"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it," Brother Christianson said. Steve said, "Well... I think I can... yeah, I can do it."

Brother Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday."

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room.

When class started, Brother Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts. Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls. Everyone was pretty excited-it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend.

Bro. Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?"

Cynthia said, "Yes."

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"

Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Bro. Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk..

Bro. Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe do you want a donut?"

Joe said, "Yes." Bro. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups, Joe got a donut.

And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle, till Bro. Christianson came to Scott.

Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When Bro. Christianson asked, "Scott, do you want a donut?"

Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"

Bro. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them."

Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."

Bro. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"

Steve started to do ten pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!"

Bro. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow. Bro. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.

Bro. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"

Jenny said, "No."

Then Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" Steve did ten, Jenny got a donut.

By now, the students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.

Bro. Christianson asked Robert to watch Steve to make sure he did ten pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. So Robert began to watch Steve closely. Bro. Christianson started down the fourth row.

During his class, however, some students had wandered in and sat along the heaters along the sides of the room. When Bro. Christianson realized this; he did a quick count and saw 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

Bro. Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set.

Steve asked Bro. Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"

Bro. Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups. You can do them any way that you want." And Bro. Christianson went on.

A few moments later, Jason came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!"

Jason didn't know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."

Bro. Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him."

Steve said, "Yes, let him come in."

Bro. Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"

"Yes."

"Steve, will you do ten pushups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

Bro. Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those seated on the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular. Bro. Christianson went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut?

Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."

Bro. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?"

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda. Then Bro. Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you want a donut?"

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, "Bro. Christianson, can I help him?"

Bro. Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, he has to do it alone, Steve, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a donut?"

As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Brother Christianson turned to the room and said, "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, pleaded to the Father, "Into thy hands I commend my spirit." With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and died. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten."

Summed up Sunday

Yes, General Conference was once again wonderful.  I simply loved it!  I tried to pay close attention to the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, because I didn't want to be like the guy in the story from last week who couldn't recall what the Lord had told us through the Prophet.

Anyways, President Monson's story about being in the Navy was awesome.  He gave it during Priesthood session.  The first sunday in the Navy, the chief officer commanded them:  Today everybody goes to church.  All of you Catholics, you meet at camp decader.  Don't come back until 3 o'clock. Forward march.  Those of you who are Jewish, you meet in camp Henry.  Don't come back until 3 o'clock.  The rest of you protestants, you meet in the theaters at camp fairgood.  Don't come back until 3 o'clock.

Instantly it flashed through Thomas' mind:  Monson you're not a catholic, you're not a Jew, you're not a protestant, you're Mormon!  So you just stand here.  He then stated that he is glad to be alive today.  President Monson felt completely alone.  Courageous and determined, but alone.

This got me thinking.. How easy would it have been for President Monson to have simply walked out along with the sailors of one of the other faiths?  But he didn't.  It takes courage to stand up to adversary, and oftentimes you will be by yourself.  It's easier to go with the flow and allow others to determine your actions.  But it is much more gratifying to decide for yourself, and to decide the right thing.  I wonder if sometimes loneliness is the price you must pay in order have courage and determination.  If this is so, it is well worth the cost.

The prophet went on to quote a poem:

Dare to be a Mormon
Dare to stand alone
Dare to have a purpose firm
Dare to make it known

I add my voice to that of President Monson.  Dare to stand alone.  "This is a time to do what is right regardless of the consequences that might follow."(Gordon B. Hinckley) While you may physically be standing alone when standing up for what's right, you will never stand alone spiritually.  You can do what is right.  You simply need to be willing to.

GC BABY!

You may or may not have heard this story from your home teacher:

A fine member of the Church was talking with a neighbor who was not of our faith. When the topic of discussion turned to general conference, the neighbor asked, “You say you have prophets and apostles? And twice a year in a worldwide conference they reveal the word of God?”
“Absolutely,” the member replied with confidence.
The neighbor thought about that for a moment. He seemed genuinely interested and then asked, “What did they say in the last general conference?”
At this point the good member of the Church went from feeling excited about sharing the gospel to feeling embarrassed. Try as he might, he couldn’t think of the details of a single talk.
His friend found this troubling and said, “You mean to tell me that God speaks to man in our day and you can’t remember what He said?”

In 3 Nephi 19, it was "noised abroad" that Jesus would be coming the next day, and "there were many, yea, an exceedingly great number, did labor exceedingly all that night, that they might be on the morrow in the place where Jesus should show himself".  To what extent would you go to see and hear the savior speak? Well He is going to speak to us.  This weekend.  Through his Prophet and apostles.  You might remember when I said that General Conference is coming up.  That is exactly what I'm referring to.  In this awesome display of affection towards us, God is literally telling us what we need to know in our day. Our Heavenly Father is talking to us, so we better listen to what He is teaching, and remember.




Everybody has different needs.  That is why it's so amazing that the needs of everybody.. The needs of every single person.. are going to be communicated during General Conference.  The speaker is not always going to be the one telling you what you're supposed to do, or giving you the comfort you need.  Often times it is the Holy Ghost that will be communicating to you what you need to hear.  Listen to it's promptings, as well as the words of the speakers.  I know how hard it is to pay attention, especially when you're in your Pajamas and on the couch, but there's an easy fix for that. Pray for help to listen to General Conference and for answers to your questions, and then do your best to stay awake and focus, and God will do the rest.  Your questions will be answered at General Conference.  This is the only living church; We receive personal revelation and we have a living prophet to guide us.  Listen to the teachings of General Conference and you will be blessed.  This much I know.

I Am a Child of God

<--Wonderful piano done by Paul Cardall

Listen to it!

I am a child of God, and He has sent me here.

Has given me an earthly home with parents kind and dear.

Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way.

Teach me all that I must do to live with him someday.

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Romans 8:16–17

We are all children of God, and as such need to live worthy of our divine inheritance.  What does being a child of God say about our capacities and potential?  We can do anything we want to.  You are worthy to be an heir, along with our big brother Jesus Christ, to all that our Father has.

Never forget the importance of the lyrics to this simple primary song:  'I Am a Child of God'

Tragedy and the Existence of God

10 years ago some people did some bad things.  Very bad things.

Many atheists claim that tragedy and sorrow like this is what makes them believe that there is no God.  I say tragedy and sorrow like this is simply proof that there IS a God.  Some people claim "If there was a God he wouldn't let something this bad happen".  However, I believe if there was no God, then there would be no such thing as right and good, and therefore there would be no such thing as wrong and evil.  So if there was no God, then what happened 10 years ago today was simply a decision made by a person, and there was no evil or badness involved.  Their own argument is precisely why they're wrong.  There must be a God, because what those people did all those years ago WAS bad.

God has so much love for us that he's not going to baby us through life.  He loves us enough to give us trials..  And we're going to keep on having trials until we have become perfect like His son.  In other words, the hard times never stop.  The good news is that we can become more and more like His son through our trials.  The other good news is that God and Jesus are both there to help us through everything, and I love them for that.

           Tragedy isn't the proof of the non-existence of God.

                                   It's a reminder.

Conference: It's coming up!

Solve these riddles:

1 As I went across the bridge, I met a man with a load of wood which was neither straight nor crooked. What kind of wood was it?

2 What has a mouth but can't chew?

3 There was a green house. Inside the green house there was a white house. Inside the white house there was a red house. Inside the red house there were lots of babies. What is it?

4 What is put on a table, cut, but never eaten?

5 Two fathers and two sons go fishing. Each of them catches one fish. So, why do they bring home only 3 fish?

6 When asked how old she was, Suzie replied "In two years I will be twice as old as I was five years ago." How old is she?

7 Mr Archibald went for a walk in the forest. It began to rain suddenly and he couldn't didn't have anything to protect his head. But not even a few hairs got wet. How is this possible?

8 There are 3 stoves. A glass stove, a brick stove, and a wood stove. You only have 1 match. Which do you light up first?

9 It there were 9 cats on a bridge and one jumped over the edge, how many would be left?

10 Six glasses are in a row. The first three are full of juice; the second three are empty. By moving only one glass, can you arrange them so empty and full glasses alternate?

Those were hard, just like life. However, how easy would they have been if I had given you hints? for example, on number 3, think about fruit. On number 7, think about his age. These clues make these riddles significantly easier. If you can get these kind of hints about life, why wouldn't you listen intently and pay close attention? This is what General Conference is.

"But they always talk about the same thing!! I've heard it all before!" Let me tell you something, true Principles don't change. And we, as children, need repetition in order to learn. If we're not learning what we're taught, then obviously we need to hear it again until we are perfect at it; and there is only one person who can claim perfection at any trait.

"Don't discount a message merely because it sounds familiar." -Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Conference is messages from God, to us. So get ready to listen up.

(Answers coming next post)

New Thing

This is a new thing I'm starting, but I don't know what to call it.  You guys can need to help me with a title.  The top one's I've thought of right now are:

'Sunday Replay'    'Sunday Power Play'    'Power Play Sunday'    'Sunday Take Away'    'Solemn Sunday'

So any of those, or anything else you guys can think of to call it, just leave a comment of what you like the most!

What I'm starting is simply a post each Sunday of what I learned that day, because I'm always enlightened each and every Sunday, and I love it.

Heavenly Father, the ultimate coach.

Something that's common between most coaches is yelling.  Why do they yell at the players who are trying their best?  I'll answer with a scripture: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten" (Revelation 3:19). The coach simply wants the player to improve himself, so he let's him know what he's doing wrong.  The same thing happens with parents rebuking their children.  In his April 2011 General Conference talk, D. Todd Christofferson related this story:

President Hugh B. Brown, formerly a member of the Twelve and a counselor in the First Presidency, provided a personal experience. He told of purchasing a rundown farm in Canada many years ago. As he went about cleaning up and repairing his property, he came across a currant bush that had grown over six feet (1.8 m) high and was yielding no berries, so he pruned it back drastically, leaving only small stumps. Then he saw a drop like a tear on the top of each of these little stumps, as if the currant bush were crying, and thought he heard it say:  

“How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. … And now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me. … How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.” 

President Brown replied, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and someday, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down.’” 

Years later, President Brown was a field officer in the Canadian Army serving in England. When a superior officer became a battle casualty, President Brown was in line to be promoted to general, and he was summoned to London. But even though he was fully qualified for the promotion, it was denied him because he was a Mormon. The commanding general said in essence, “You deserve the appointment, but I cannot give it to you.” What President Brown had spent 10 years hoping, praying, and preparing for slipped through his fingers in that moment because of blatant discrimination. Continuing his story, President Brown remembered: 

“I got on the train and started back … with a broken heart, with bitterness in my soul. … When I got to my tent, … I threw my cap on the cot. I clenched my fists, and I shook them at heaven. I said, ‘How could you do this to me, God? I have done everything I could do to measure up. There is nothing that I could have done—that I should have done—that I haven’t done. How could you do this to me?’ I was as bitter as gall. 

“And then I heard a voice, and I recognized the tone of this voice. It was my own voice, and the voice said, ‘I am the gardener here. I know what I want you to do.’ The bitterness went out of my soul, and I fell on my knees by the cot to ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness. … 

“… And now, almost 50 years later, I look up to [God] and say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.’”

Remember, "Divine chastening has at least three purposes: (1) to persuade us to repent, (2) to refine and sanctify us, and (3) at times to redirect our course in life to what God knows is a better path."

 God does love us, and every trial that we go through will simply make us stronger.  You can never grow stronger if you don't get cut down a little along the way.

The Grand Buffet

Did you know that just about anything can be compared to The Grand Buffet?  That's what our priest's lesson was about.  It went like this:

"Imagine a cup of water and bread.

Now imagine a cheeseburger and fries.

Now imagine a Grand Buffet.  That's what I like to think of the three degrees of glory.  I mean, a cheeseburger is good, but there's gonna be a cheese burger at The Buffet anyways!  So you wanna get to The Grand Buffet, and not fall short."

We then were talking about how marriage and dating will get you to the grand buffet, and my bishop pipes in and says "You can't just date one girl, it's back to the buffet thing.  If you go to Tucanos and just try the grilled pineapple and say 'I like this the best, I'm not eating anything else' Then you'll never know what all the other food tastes like!  You gotta try it all!"  So basically everything is food. cool.

I guess that's just how a boy's brain works.

What is YOUR favorite food at Tucanos?